The net used to be a great place to find out the real deal on things/places but
then someone got the idea that you could stack the deck and give fake glowing reviews.
It's kinda seams like this may be going on for this place.

"I bought one during the release party. GREAT mug."
Quote Teevtee and Teevtee gave the place a good review so if you got into the release
party does this mean you know the owners or could anybody get in?

I had this problem here in Ohio when the Tropical Bistro opened up and folks here
were going "IT"S AWESOME!" but it really was not awesome.
I did grow to love it because I knew and liked the owners but still I tried not to
tell people the place was great! Good not great.

So what would you do if you knew the owners or your group was in close with the owners.
You may even work for or get free promotion for you interests from this place.
Would you sell your soul and help keep the tiki place alive plus help those who help you.
Or would you tell the truth and save a fellow tiki peep a long trip only to wait hours
for a $75.00 bowl of ?

No, the "release party" was open to anyone and everyone.... I do not know any person involved with Three Dots and a Dash on ANY level... not freinds of friends... nothing.
I'm just a guy who went there and really enjoyed it... and now have gone back often.

I know that no one knows anyone on the web and so fraud is very easy but that does not discount the times when people are NOT lying. I have no idea what YOU personally enjoy so I cannot say if YOU will liek Three Dots or not but I can tell you that I really do. They have always treated me very nicely, the atmosphere is GREAT and the drinks are very well made versions of tiki drinks. I just don't see anything to not like about it (save perhaps the cost of the food and the group drinks... both seem a little high to me while $13 for the "normal" drinks is OK for what you get in my opinion).

I have read literally every Yelp review and the mass majority are VERY positive... I think you can start to trust that critical mass. Of the negative reviews I see one very common complaint... and they are ALL from people going on crowded weekend nights.

I am the first to say that I would NOT go to Three Dots and a Dash on a Saturday night unless you arrive very early... I have been there when it is crowded and it is not the same place as when it is early in the night and very chill and lounge like. If you avoid Friday and Saturday late or Thursday and Friday happy hour all others times are great.

But that's just my opinion... and I am a real person, not some Yelp robot or anything!

BTW... the "mug release party" was basically nothing... just a normal Monday (Labor day actually) where they revelaed the mug. I actually just stoipped by to purchase the mug... I did not even have a drink that night.

Also as an aside why seek out the (mostly) negative reviews of the "Melanies" when there are far, far, far more glowing reviews?

Is the logic that good reviews must be fake whiel negative ones must be true?

There are currently 36 5 star reviews and 5 one star reviews... so more than seven times the number of raves as there are the number of bashes.
I have no reason to believe tht they are not all perfectly valid. Some people had fun and some did not but the odds seem pretty decent that most people WILL have fun.
Now factor in that some of the negative reviews clearly state that they do not understand or care about Tiki culture... it seems that those who frequent this forum woudl be predisposed to enjoy it more than anyone.

Thank you for your response.
I for one don't like crowds, or the "in" place to be.
Used to like the Red Head Saloon till it became one of the hot spots.

The reason I asked about fake good reviews is in Ohio we have Kahiki foods.
The frozen food they make is not that good even two of the guys who used to work
there did not think so much of it.
BUT... there are some who will tell you that it's great and they love it, what
they don't tell you is Kahiki foods sponsor some tiki things to the advantage of the folks
saying hey the frozen Kahiki food is great!

It is cool that Kahiki foods throws money the way of tiki.

When I tell people something is great that's the way I see it.
If I have a vested interest in a place and think this will slant my review
this I will let you know as well.

For me I would just as well go to one of the MANY cool low key spots in Chicago or elsewhere for
that matter than fight/wait for a seat in a over crowded over priced "HOT" spot any day.
$75.00 bucks for a bowl of booze? that's two bottles of Lemon Hart!
But then there is all that "hand crafting" going on.
I wish I only knew how to put ice in a shaker and make a drink myself, It's sooo tricky.

I totally understand your adversion to crowded "hot" places. I think Three Dots can be like that but when I go (for example last night) it is mellow, easy to get a table and very laid back.
I think many of the negative reviews come from people who hit it during peak times and those experiences sound VERY different from my own.

There are a TON of great places in Chicago but there are not many Tiki places. I was just happy to see someone bringing tiki to Chicago and then doing what I feel is a really nice job.

But you know some people really want like crazy cluttered tacky kind of things out of a tiki bar and this is not that either... so obviously its all subjective.

To me the biggest ding I have against them is the cost... even if you can justify the drink prices they are still really high and the group drink prices are frankly too high to justify.
The food is also expensive for what it is... but putting costs aside I think everything else is on point... it's worth you at least checking it out I would imagine.

Actually they are far worse. Yelp IMO is the most ruthless company out there. They are preying on and destroying small buisnesses, the life blood of the US. They are hurting the economy worse than any government could do. Yelp filters out all of your positive reviews and only leaves negative, unless you pay them for all positive reviews. I know this to be fact from personal experience. They have been sued for extortion multiple times in the short life of their evil empire. Google yelp extortion and read the thousands of pages of unhappy small businesses and decide for yourself. Sorry, not trying to derail the thread, I try to not rant about it.

I am excited to visit this bar. I have a brother in law that lives in Chicago, hopefully I can go visit soon. I hope that they can tame the crowds or figure out a better way to deal with them.

I had the pleasure of visiting Three Dots and a Dash while on tour a few weeks ago. Nobody in my band wanted to venture downtown, so I went on a solitary mission.

I had to call to find the place, as it is down an alley behind the physical address. I walked through the cavernous hallway to a wall of skulls. Once downstairs, the bar opened up like some sort of speakeasy. The place wasn't that crowded. I sat at the bar, oreded a Mai Tai, and had a wonderful conversation with one of the bartenders about what they used in their Mai Tai (the strange ingredient in the eyedropper was macadamia nut extract). Next I had a Three Dots and a Dash. Both drinks were ok, but I figured the price would have warranted a great drink. The decor was a little more modern than I would have expected (the granite countertops at the bar). When I left, sea urchin mug in tow, I looked in the bag to find that the bartender had thrown in some swizzles as well. Overall, I had a very pleasant experience. If I find myself in Chicago again, I'll definitely head back.

Three Dots opens at 4 on Fridays now, and since that's usually about when I get off work it's a pretty sweet development. And it's always been calm enough to chat with the bartenders while I sip my drink. Mondays are still my favorite nights I think.

Yeah, $13 isn't exactly pocket change; but on the other hand it's a darn good incentive to drink more slowly and thoughtfully. I just think that's the kind of establishment it is. Or, as Trader Vic put it, "Dedicated to those merry souls who make drinking a pleasure; who achieve contentedness long before capacity; and who, whenever they drink, prove able to carry it, enjoy it and remain ladies and gentlemen."

Three visits to Three Dots and a Dash. All have been very impressive.
I highly recommend a visit, as you can get some of the best cocktails in all of Chicago here & the atmosphere really is a nice example of modern tiki, which brings in a respectable degree of old-style tiki.

I have finished the menu of all of their single-serve cocktails - both the Classics & Modern drinks.
No change to try the drink bowls, yet - they are in my future, though, I am sure

My favorites from the menu (in no particular order):
- Jungle Bird (but, if not made right, can be too Campari-forward, which is a problem - 1 I ordered was like that & I had her re-do it)
- Three Dots & a Dash
- Jet Pilot
- Saturn
- Rum River Mystic
- Poipu Beach Boogie Board
- Painkiller #3
- MaiTai (Not traditional, but an excellent cocktail. If you don't like Agricole Rums, though, you will not likely care for it)

So, if you're going for a visit & wondering where you might want to start, one of those would be my suggestion. Then, go wherever the menu takes you

Great pics! I love the variety of mugs they use for the drinks. Not just for "show" on the menu. Those swizzle look amazing! I wish I had a trip comign to Chi-town sometime soon so I could enjoy Three Dots in-person.